Dan D’Antoni finds Lakers season somewhat special

PHOENIX – Mike D’Antoni started irritating his brother, and the reasons had nothing to do with what upset Laker fans for the past two seasons.

No, Dan D’Antoni’s dissatisfaction had little to do with the Lakers’ struggles, his brother’s offense or the team’s consistently poor defense. Dan had rented a Manhattan Beach home with his brother Mike after his unexpected hire with the Lakers soon morphed into Dan joining him as an assistant.

This season, things are different with the duo having their own Manhattan Beach residences.

“If somebody was young and had that pad we had, they’d be going strong,” Dan D’Antoni told this newspaper. “But for us, it was just a place to sleep and watch film.

“He’s probably happier. I’m happier.”

The Lakers entered their game Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns at U.S. Airways Center losers of 11 of their past 12 games. They have too many injured point guards to count. But Dan said he and his brother have found satisfaction with coaching a group of players that likely wouldn’t start on many NBA rosters a season after fielding an Hall-of-Fame roster riddled with competing agendas.

“It’s a different type of pressure,” Dan D’Antoni said. “There’s a winning pressure regardless. You always want to win. The biggest difference is this is a fresh group trying to learn how to win.

“Last year was a bunch of guys who had won and you’re trying to mesh them. This year, you’re trying to create a winning atmosphere and last year we were trying to manipulate it.”

An odd two seasons for Dan D’Antoni to witness, yet his career path always took twists and turns.

He started his coaching career as an assistant at Marshall University, but he also crossed off some unusual items off his bucket list. That included running an ice cream shop, two restaurants, a bumper-boat pool (D’Antoni likens it to bumper cars on water) and saw John F. Kennedy speak on the campaign trail in Mullens, W. Va.

Years later, Dan D’Antoni organized and raised funds for the Beach Ball Classic, a summer pro-am league that has featured cameos from Kobe Bryant, Antawn Jamison and Raymond Felton, among others. After coaching for 28 years at Socastee High in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Dan D’Antoni dropped everything to join his brother’s staff in Phoenix in 2004. He has stayed with Mike D’Antoni ever since in stints with New York and the Lakers.

“I gave up things I enjoy,” D’Antoni said, “but it was always our dream to come work with each other. I dropped everything and left.”

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Injury update

Guard Steve Blake said he has progressed in recent days dribbling with his right hand with and without the brace that protects his hyperextended right elbow. He isn’t expected to return until sometime in February, but he’s spent most the past five weeks performing dribbling and shooting drills with his left hand.

“I know it will be better. But once I’m able to use my right hand again, in game situations will I instinctually use it?” Blake asked rhetorically. “You don’t know. We’ll see.”